Nintendo’s surprise free update for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch 2 includes eight-player split-screen

The nine-year-old game that brings endless fun.

Nintendo

Players might assume Nintendo has exhausted every possibility with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The game debuted on the Wii U in 2014, grew into the Switch adaptation three years later, and kept selling strongly across the console’s entire lifespan.

When the Switch 2 launched last year it shipped with Mario Kart World, suggesting the conclusion of the former’s momentum. Yet Nintendo hasn’t stopped innovating, releasing a major, completely free update expressly for Switch 2 users.

A single screen session now permits up to eight players in local split‑screen, assuming adequate controller availability (original Switch sticks are likewise accepted). The update also introduces CameraPlay, allowing viewers to capture and share player reactions—even iconic Luigi stare‑downs—to their own screens. Through GameChat, these views can be streamed online just like the earlier Mario Kart World implementation.

Load times have been dramatically reduced, and docked playback enjoys sharpened visual quality. This enhancement is intended for users with a 4K display that can translate the Switch 2’s upgraded outputs; Mario Kart 8 Deluxe previously offered 1080p handheld performance via “Handheld Mode Boost,” but the update may now grant genuine native 4K output.

Why Nintendo invests heavily in an older title while still promoting Mario Kart World is speculative, yet the strategy reflects continuous polishing of existing IP alongside new DLC hopes.

Mario Kart World stays bundled in the redesigned Switch 2 package, retailing $50 higher than at launch and now including a three‑month Nintendo Switch Online membership.

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